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So just because my state does not have any settlement exemptions doesn't mean my settlement will be completely taken away? Was the attorney talking about the creditors trustee, and if so are there only a few that deal with every case in the county? If that is the case than it all kind of makes sense.

There are strategies so that the settlement isn't all at risk. You have to think about what a bankruptcy would do. If you were discharging all the medical debt, then you wouldn't need to pay the doctors and that means that any payment in the settlement for medical bills would become property of the bankruptcy estate. This is why it is important to have a PI attorney (and/or bankruptcy attorney) that have a strategy to preserve some of your settlement.

I personally find it disheartening that the bankruptcy estate makes claim to "pain and suffering" awards/settlements in a personal injury (PI) case. The reason the Trustee settles with the debtor is that this could save the Trustee from pursuing the claim on behalf of the estate which would have some cost anyhow. Whether or not the Trustee negotiates a reasonable settlement between the debtor the bankruptcy estate... is the unknown.

Comment

Ya I have posted similar questions around (sometimes forgetting that I asked them even here). I am extremely anxious over everything and trying to gather as many opinions as I can. Luckily in regards to keeping and spending the settlement prior to filing I have 7 yes's 1 no and 2 iffy's. (yes I have kept track) I had one attorney NO and one attorney YES. Which you have probably read and it pushed me into asking around on forums. Today (as you also prob read) I meet with a third. I wasn't a fan of the first two for varying reasons (one unprofessional, one is hard to get a hold of). To answer your questions, I hold about 55-60k in total debt, and most likely my part of the settlement will be about 20k. I had two (well three) situations on how to handle this. Can I wait a long time? It depends on luck I suppose. The only thing that would cut my time short would be a summons to court. Otherwise I will avoid filing as long as possible (if I can use the money). It wont take long to spend as I have a list of important things to take care of, some expensive (home repairs). I also have some auto repairs as well. The "deal" amount was mentioned due to history and knowing the trustees personally. That particular lawyer is suppose to be calling them and "off of the record" asking what they can and normally do in these situations. But as you mentioned it ends up being in the creditors hands. As far as paying the debt, if it was a large enough settlement it was a thought. If I am right a lot of creditors will work out deals and you can end up paying them much less than your balance. Sometimes half. Thanks for the response!

Justbroke:

The weird thing is my attorney informing me that the cases here no longer break down PI settlements into different categories (for instance no more pain and suffering). But I did confirm what you mentioned and it is ridiculous. PI settlements usually try and help the people out who are undergoing constant treatment and sometimes could have problems life long. Not allowing people to keep that for future help is horrible.